League of Destiny
by Zero Gale
Summary: Ash Ketchum is forced into hiding and never to return. But when a new evil arises on the horizon, Ash comes back, better than ever. New Pokemon, new friends and allies, new adventure. Will Ash ever become the Pokemon Master he was always destined to become?


**Disclamier:** I do not own Pokemon

"Infernape! End this with Fire Pledge!" yelled the Pokémon's trainer. And immediately after the last word from his trainer's command, the Flame Pokémon roared with all its might, striking its fist into the earth. The coming from the fire Pokémon's fist, a series of fiery geysers burst out of the earth in the direction towards the opposing Pokémon. When the flames nearly reached the defenseless Pokémon, the geysers suddenly stopped. Then mere seconds later, exploding from underneath, a huge column of fire scorches the opponent's Pokémon in a savage roast. When the flames died down, all that was left was a charred-looking Bronze Bell Pokémon.

"Bronzong is unable to battle, the winner is Infernape! Since the Elite Four Lucian is out of usable Pokemon, the winner of this battle goes to the challenger, Ash Ketchum!" And the stands erupted into a frenzy of applause and cheers.

No challenger has ever come this close to defeating the Sinnoh Elite Four in such a long time, so of course the entire stadium had a reason to make both trainers lose their sense of hearing.

Ash recalled his Pokemon to his side, "Well done, Infernape. We almost bit the dust there, but you came through when it mattered most. I can't even tell you how proud I am. You deserve a long rest; return." Ash took out the monkey's Pokeball and recalled the elated, hooting Pokemon in a beam of red light. Then he along with his injured partner riding on his shoulder went up to shake hands with Lucian.

"Well done, Ash! No one has ever beaten me, nor given me such a thrilling battle in such a long time!" Lucian tried to yell over the deafening roars and screams of the stands.

"Thanks, Lucian! You really had me at the edge, but I'm not gonna back down after coming this far!" Ash replied, hoping that Lucian could even hear him.

"I wish you the best of luck. The champion is not so easy to beat you know. Good luck, and again congratulations!" Lucian complimented, and then went back into his respective hall waving to the fans who still cheered him on for the spectacular performance.

Then the announcer came on, "Well, was that an awesome battle or what ladies and gentlemen? Let's give one more round of applause for the new challenger for the Sinnoh Champion's title, Ash Ketchum!" The stands roared even louder than before and Ash, wanting to appease the crowd, pumped his fist into the air gaining the people to cheer even louder that they will finally have a match of legendary proportions. "He will battle our very own, Champion Cynthia tomorrow night! So save your seats for what will surely be the most amazing battle in the history of champion battles! Good night, Lily of the Valley!" And once again, the stands erupted into a frenzy of cheers. After a couple of minutes taking in the applause, he quickly went into his hall running towards the Pokémon center to heal his injured Pokémon, until he came upon his friends just midway through the hall.

"Nice one, Ash!" Dawn congratulating him with a thumbs up and with Piplup chirping quite happily in her other arm.

"Yeah, that was an amazing battle," May commented with a wink, "It had the flair of a contest performance as well as the drive and power of a heated gym battle."

"Ash, none of us had a doubt you couldn't pull through. I just knew it was a matter of time before you made your usual miraculous comeback!" Serena stated with a slight blush coloring her cheeks.

"At first we thought you wouldn't pull through, but you really turned it around with Infernape!" Iris pointed out, but as always when it comes to Ash, she had to tease him just a little bit. "Guess you've grown up from that little kid I met so long ago. Heeheehee."

"Really, Iris?" Ash said with a downcast face, "I was like 14 with the mind of an 8-year-old coming to a brand new region. And it didn't help I had a late growth spurt. But I had to grow up someday if I was ever gonna earn your respect with you being the new gym leader of Opelucid City." Ash finished his usual snapping at the novice gym leader and turned to the rest of his dear friends, "Thanks, guys. It really means a lot to me. Seeing you all here still gives me the drive to push on towards a seemingly impossible goal for many trainers like myself." With that, he gave one of his usual smiles that all the girls always loved to see. It was nice that his friends came to watch him throughout the tournament. Sadly, not all of his friends were able to show up and watch him battle to compete for the Sinnoh championship. Misty, Cilan, and Clemont being gym leaders, and with all the challenges they suddenly received, could not come and watch. Iris was the only one able to come because she technically shared the gym with her mentor, Drayden, and he would gladly take over while she went to support her friend. Clemont's sister, Bonnie, was with her older brother helping him and their dad take care of the gym. Brock was finishing his last term and preparing for his Pokémon medical exam back in Kanto, so Ash decided not to bother him about it as finishing his doctorate was his life's dream in order to fulfill his passion of helping Pokemon. But some part of Ash knew that Brock was taking a slight break from his studies to cheer for his dear friend. Max on the other hand, left on his journey right when he turned the age of ten and not even his sister, May, has heard from him in a while. Even Prof. Oak, his mother, and Tracey were not able to come but promised to watch on the television instead. But four of his friends coming to support him all the way was better than none.

May then remembered something she needed to let Ash know, "Oh, hey, Ash!" "What's up, May?" he asked. "Your mom told me to tell you to call her back about your win. She is probably standing by the phone right now, waiting for you to call home."

"Oh, yeah. Later, right now I gotta take Pikachu and the rest to the Pokémon Center to get them healed up for my battle with Cynthia." And with that, he ran through them bounding the corner, not seeing a figure cloaked in black attire around the other side.

"Whoa!" Ash exclaimed landing on his butt. He looked up to see the hand of Cynthia, the Champion of Sinnoh. She looked down upon him giggling, looking as beautiful as always. Ash blushed a light shade of red and gratefully took the champion's hand getting back up on his feet.

"Geez, Ash. I know you're eager to battle me, but you need to calm down. You almost crashed into me," Cynthia said slightly giggling.

"Sorry about that, Cynthia." Ash respectively bowed before the presence of the Sinnoh Champion. "But I really have to get Pikachu and the others checked at the Pokémon Center quick."

"Oh, then you better hurry, I can't battle you and Pikachu like that," reaching out to rub the rodent's little chin, getting a little 'Cha.' Pikachu earned himself some scratches and bruises after battling Lucian's Gallade. Ash bowed once more and immediately took off towards the center.

The girls joined the champion laughing at the friend running frantically, trying to find where the center is. "He's always like that, running off in the wrong direction," commented Dawn with a slight sweat-drop."

"I take back what I said before," Iris said shaking her head, "He's still just a little kid." This was met with the rest of the girls laughing.

Ash was finally able to find the center, after a good five minutes, and turned in his Pikachu along with his other Pokemon: Greninja, Talonflame, Krookodile, Infernape, and Scrafty.

"It'll just take a couple of minutes and your Pokémon will be as good as new. And may I say congratulations, no one has ever come this far in beating the elite four. In fact, since Aaron was introduced into the elite four, no one had ever gotten past him!" said Nurse Joy.

"Thank you, Nurse Joy. And you can expect me to beat Cynthia as well! You can count on it!" Ash gave one of his signature peace sign pose with a huge grin, making Nurse Joy giggle at the challenger's optimistic outlook while she took Pikachu and the pokéballs down the hall.

Ash then relaxed on a couch, cracking his neck. He could finally relax after a long day.

Decided to cut it here. Don't worry, the chapter is far from over. Just need to make a few tweaks here and there. Full chapter up real soon.


End file.
